Jesus Revealed in Doctrine JESUS REVEALED BY DEATH
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that beleiveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. John 11:25
There's a long list of unpleasant words that begin with the letter D. There's darkness and defeat and dismay and despair and doubt and discouragement and disaster and distress and discord and discontent! How's that? Do you like those? But the most dreaded of all these is the word death.
Many people in the world at large believe that when you die, that's it. You're dead forever. There's nothing beyond the grave. Frankly, I'm not impressed with their theory, are you? It's not as if they were offering eternity in Las Vegas versus eternity in heaven. That might have at least a little attraction for some. But it's eternity in heaven verse nothing. I'm thankful today that death is not the end, and that God has bigger plans for us then eternal annihilation.
It is good news to realize that what we call death has never been any problem to God. Jesus called it sleep. We have read that the wages of sin is death--but the real wages of sin is the second death. The second death the Christian doesn't have to be concerned about. And what we call death, sleep, the moment of silence, is not something to be unduly concerned about either. The Desire of Ages, page 787, says, "To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment." Christ said, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death" (John 8:51).
When the Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, and the dead in Christ are called forth from their sleeping beds, it will be one of the easiest things God ever did. The only problem for Jesus is unbelief--the problem of trying to persuade our stubborn wills to yield to His control, to come to Him that we might have life. That's the problem!
When Jesus called death sleep, He was saying something wonderful, for sleeping carries with it the idea of the other end of the line--the waking up. When Jesus came to the damsel and said, "She's not dead, she's sleeping," He said that because He recognized that the waking-up time was coming. Because Jesus died, and rose again, each of us today has the choice of living forever. We may sleep--but we won't die. Jesus Himself will come to awaken us so that we may spend eternity with Him.
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that beleiveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. John 11:25
There's a long list of unpleasant words that begin with the letter D. There's darkness and defeat and dismay and despair and doubt and discouragement and disaster and distress and discord and discontent! How's that? Do you like those? But the most dreaded of all these is the word death.
Many people in the world at large believe that when you die, that's it. You're dead forever. There's nothing beyond the grave. Frankly, I'm not impressed with their theory, are you? It's not as if they were offering eternity in Las Vegas versus eternity in heaven. That might have at least a little attraction for some. But it's eternity in heaven verse nothing. I'm thankful today that death is not the end, and that God has bigger plans for us then eternal annihilation.
It is good news to realize that what we call death has never been any problem to God. Jesus called it sleep. We have read that the wages of sin is death--but the real wages of sin is the second death. The second death the Christian doesn't have to be concerned about. And what we call death, sleep, the moment of silence, is not something to be unduly concerned about either. The Desire of Ages, page 787, says, "To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment." Christ said, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death" (John 8:51).
When the Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, and the dead in Christ are called forth from their sleeping beds, it will be one of the easiest things God ever did. The only problem for Jesus is unbelief--the problem of trying to persuade our stubborn wills to yield to His control, to come to Him that we might have life. That's the problem!
When Jesus called death sleep, He was saying something wonderful, for sleeping carries with it the idea of the other end of the line--the waking up. When Jesus came to the damsel and said, "She's not dead, she's sleeping," He said that because He recognized that the waking-up time was coming. Because Jesus died, and rose again, each of us today has the choice of living forever. We may sleep--but we won't die. Jesus Himself will come to awaken us so that we may spend eternity with Him.
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